Got Your Back
by Kalira69
Summary: Teamed up with his eternal rival and best friend, another invigorating mission under their belts, is there anything better?


Written upon request for a Mousie on Tumblr, from a fictional kiss prompt set.

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"A most invigorating mission, was it not, rival?" Gai asked as cheerfully as he could as he engaged the ward seals laid into the walls of the rest cabin.

Kakashi waved a hand casually. "Maa, well enough." he said, and yawned, slipping off his flak jacket - which gaped with new slashes in several places, though fortunately none had gone all the way through to skin - and stretching languidly.

"Ah! Always so hip!" Gai grinned and shed his own vest, dirty and scuffed but not cut through, before moving towards the cupboards in the corner. "But that is my rival!"

"Gai." Kakashi said before he could continue, and Gai paused, turning to look at him.

Kakashi tugged his mask down carelessly, the fabric rucking up crookedly beneath his chin, and pressed himself against Gai's chest. Gai's smile softened as he wrapped both arms around Kakashi and kissed him softly, eliciting a low, pleased rumble.

Kakashi had one arm curled around Gai's neck - from this angle, even with Gai's arms around him, he had leverage for at least a dozen throws, leaving aside the simpler options of breaking Gai's neck or piercing his throat with a weapon. Gai didn't care, smoothing his hands over Kakashi's lean back and squeezing his hips, hissing quietly as Kakashi's sharp teeth scraped over his lip with an emphatic nip.

"Gai. . ." Kakashi moaned against his mouth, and Gai's hands tightened instinctively, though he resisted the impulse to push Kakashi's back to a wall.

Gai nuzzled his cheek. "Kashi." he murmured back before taking his lover's mouth again.

Kakashi's lips curved into a smile under his own before parting in welcome. A welcome Gai didn't hesitate to accept, to take advantage of, hands roaming the familiar territory of Kakashi's steel and whipcord body, pliant if not soft beneath his touch.

The worn, tough material of Kakashi's shirt smoothed under Gai's hands, and Kakashi's fingers curled almost absently into the collar of Gai's spandex, bunching it. Gai's hands reached the tops of Kakashi's thighs and he changed direction, sliding them back up. Kakashi's shirt rode up under his palms, baring the soft skin low on Kakashi's back to his fingertips. He splayed his fingers a little wider over the warm, shallowly curved plane just above Kakashi's hips.

Kakashi broke away with a soft gasp, fingers digging into Gai's shoulder, the steely grey of his one visible eye gone slightly hazy and his shallow breaths tickling against Gai's wet and tingling mouth. Gai stroked one hand across Kakashi's back, his harshly callused fingertips dragging over soft, warm skin.

Kakashi's back arched under the touch, the movement bringing him closer still to Gai's chest without drawing away from Gai's hand, and he smiled, brushing a quick, light kiss to Kakashi's lips. Kakashi hummed and shifted his arm around Gai's neck but neither withdrew or tightened his grip.

Kakashi nosed his cheek like an affectionate canine - a gesture Gai had taken comfort from in a few tight spots over the years, when words were unsafe and hand signals impossible - then tipped his head and kissed Gai again, pulling him down and closer.

Gai's hand was almost tempted to wander further as he responded to the not quite tease of Kakashi's clever tongue curling against his own, but he only rubbed lightly with his fingertips, feeling the solid strength of his lover's body. Kakashi pulled from the kiss with a gentle nip and a nudge of his nose against Gai's, staying close enough that their breaths mingled close and warm. "I love you." he said, in a throaty murmur, and nuzzled their noses together again as Gai's breath caught.

He knew, had even heard it before, but a part of him always remembered the too-thin, harsh boy Kakashi had once been, who could never have said it. Even if he meant it.

"And I would appreciate it if you stopped flinging yourself into traps to prove you're strong enough to break them." Kakashi said flatly, his visible eye half-lidded like he was bored. As a distancing mechanism it had never worked well on Gai.

Gai petted the small of Kakashi's back, scowling a little. "That is not what I did." he said pointedly. "And it was necessary to take the frontal approach." Kakashi huffed in a manner that said he knew Gai was right but he wouldn't admit it, lowering his gaze. Gai cupped his cheek and kissed him again, a feathery-light promise. "You were at my back, Kashi." he said softly, a promise of its own. Gai had taken a risk, and one he might not have if it had been anyone else at his back, but it had been a solid risk with Kakashi there.

Gai knew Kakashi well enough to read the worry past the scold of his words, rather than the lack of faith he would once have seen. Kakashi leaned into him, and Gai tightened his arm around his lover's waist, hugging him close. "The mission is complete, and we are both safe, my love." he reminded gently, and Kakashi sighed, giving way a little.

"Back in Konoha territory, at least." Kakashi agreed, with another soft nuzzle, this one ending with a kiss at one corner of Gai's mouth, not quite an apology. "Roll out the futons?" he asked, tipping his head towards the cupboards. "I'll see if there's anything other than ration bars to be had here."

Gai nodded agreement, but snagged Kakashi close again when he made to duck away, stealing another kiss first and letting his fingers slide under Kakashi's shirt to trail a little way up the firm line of his spine.

Kakashi's lips curved and when he twisted out of Gai's hold again it was slow and sinuous, teasing rather than challenging. Gai hummed and watched him for a moment more before going for the futons.

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I have _no_ idea how I wrote Gai, and even in Gai's POV, without italics or any Capitalised Declarations. None. It wasn't intentional.

The prompt/request was #5, "hands on the other person's back, fingertips pressing under their top, drawing gentle circles against that small strip of bare skin that make them break the kiss with a gasp".

Look me up on Tumblr (Kalira9) just to say hey, or to drop me a story request of your own!


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